Local student competes in Scripps National Spelling Bee

Jade Ray Samanta attended the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week in Washington, D.C.

Samanta, 12, will be an eighth-grade student this fall at Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau. After winning both a spelling contest at the school and the Southeast Missouri Regional Spelling Bee, Samanta went on to compete in the weeklong national spelling contest.

Samanta made it through the first three preliminary rounds but didn't qualify for the semifinals. The first round included 12 words to spell, 12 vocabulary questions and two three-point vocabulary questions. For the second and third rounds, participants spelled one word aloud, with each word worth three points. The three rounds had a possible total of 36 points.

Samanta scored full points in the second and third rounds by spelling opossum and pembroke correctly.

"I was a bit nervous at the beginning," he said. "I was number 138 out of 140 in my round in the preliminaries and I was just waiting, so that's when I got my nerves all calmed down."

To move on to semifinals, participants had to have a total score of 32, and Samanta made a score of 28.

Though he didn't make semifinals, Samanta isn't discouraged. He's already practicing for next year. Samanta watched the semifinals and recorded the words and their etymologies on his iPad for practice later.

"They were really tough words," he said. "Approximately 30 percent I did not know, but it was a good learning experience to record all of the them."

Samanta said he now has a better idea of the base words and etymologies that may be used next year. This year's spelling bee mainly focused on Greek and Latin words, so he'll practice those along with working his way through his Webster's Third New International Dictionary.

"I really want to come back next year, and I know on my part it will take a lot more preparation than what I did this year," he said. "These words will be a good basis on what I should study."

His parents and his younger brother traveled to the capital with him. Samanta said he was glad to have their support.

The finals aired on ESPN last night, and Samanta watched to see how everyone did. He'd made several friends this week and said he enjoyed interacting with so many achieved spellers in the nation's capital.

botto@semissourian.com